France court orders rogue bank trader jailed pending investigation

[JURIST] The Paris appeals court [official website, in French] Friday ordered accused "rogue trader" Jerome Kerviel [BBC profile] held in custody while an investigation continues into $73 billion worth of unauthorized trades [AP timeline] he allegedly made while working for French bank Societe Generale [corporate website]. The court granted a request by prosecutors to hold Kerviel in "provisional detention" to prevent him from fleeing the country or communicating with any possible accomplices. Kerviel has been preliminarily charged [JURIST report] with "breach of trust," "falsifying and using falsified documents," and "breaching IT access codes."

The bank, which lost $7 billion when it was forced to unload the fraudulent positions, described the methods he supposedly used to commit the fraud in an explanatory note [PDF text]. Kerviel has maintained his innocence and says that he is being made a scapegoat [Telegraph report] by the bank, which he alleges was aware of his activities. Additionally, BusinessWeekreports [text] that the Eurex derivatives exchange [exchange website] warned Societe Generale in November about Kerviel's unauthorized transactions. BBC News has more. Le Monde has local coverage.

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